The Night Before
by Reiran
Summary: One night, the body of crimelord Uchiha Itachi is found outside the Jyuuken night club. Haruno Sakura, a singerpianist at the Jyuuken finds herself caught up inside an investigation of Itachi's murder. [Sakura x Sasuke] [Naruto x Hinata]


**A/N: **Alright. So I was watching the best mystery movie of all time the other day. "Seven" with Morgan Freeman and Brad Pitt. It inspired me to write up this newest alternate universie Naruto fic like and old-fashioned detective novel. Except, not quite old-fashioned... more like old-fashion theme with modern elements. Eh. It would be much easier to read it than it would be for me to explain it. But yeah, it's a murder mystery with aspects of action, drama, comedy, and romance. With any luck, it'll turn out to be something halfway decent, so I hope you all have as much fun reading it as I do writing it. Any sort of constructive criticism is greatly appreciated. Thanks.

**The Night Before**

**Chapter 1: The Promised Rain**

Lithe hands flowed up and down the piano keys with a practiced perfection, producing a beautiful melody like no other.

The music accompanied what many had settled on calling the voice of an angel, which sung out lyrics with such a wonderful display of choral harmony that suggested there was no way of describing it otherwise.

The pink-haired angel herself in her black dress produced this heavenly sound in such a way that left her audience in complete awe. She had them captivated before they even heard her song. They had first been captivated by her astonishing beauty, then they were silenced by her music, and then they were completely mesmerized by her uncanny voice.

And that was what kept her with such a great job, doing something that she enjoyed with all her heart.

The audience clapped and a few whistles sounded off as their pink-haired angel rose from the piano bench and smiled at them. She took center stage and bowed humbly in response to their applause before departing for the night.

_That's me: Haruno Sakura, age 21. I've been a singer/pianist at the Jyuuken (owned by the Hyuuga family) for about two months now. It's a nice little night club just about a mile or so from my apartment. Not exactly what I want my career to be, but it's definitely a stepping stone. More than anything, I just want my music to be heard. _

_I just moved away from my parents' house a few months ago, and I've been struggling to get by. I've just now started to get a noticeable income, so things are much better than they were. Fortunately, I've been making friends very quickly here. I live in a bit of a rundown apartment which I hope will be better in a few more months. Until then, I'm satisfied just the way things are._

_Unfortunately, as I would find out on this night, some pretty big wrenches can be thrown into your plans when you least expect it. Not to mention, they can change your life. Fortunately, I think mine ended up being changed for the better._

Without another word, Sakura made her way off the dark hardwood stage just as the next performers made their way out. She was getting ready to head over to her usual table when a blonde-haired man sitting at one of the tables caught her eye. Her eyes immediately brightened a bit more when she saw him waving, a huge grin stretched across his face. She made her way toward him as the eyes of every other man in the place glared enviously at the young man. When she got over to where he was sitting, arms thrown over the back of the couch and legs spread wide, he patted a part of the couch next to him. Going on his suggestion, Sakura moved to sit down next to him with a bright smile on her face. It wasn't very often he was able to make it to her performances, but it always made her happy when he did. Tonight was a surprise since she hadn't been expecting him to pop in unannounced.

"Hey, Sakura-chan!," he bellowed out, voice as loud and playful as it had always been. "You were sounding great up there tonight! Not to mention you look down right sexy," he said with his big grin still on his face.

Sakura smiled in response, always glad to here her friend compliment her. She leaned over to him and wrapped her arms around his neck. Just the same, one of his arms wrapped around her and gave her a tight squeeze. Before she knew it, she saw a devilish smile spread across his face which foretold of his upcoming antics. She let go and tried to pull away, but she knew it was too late when his devious grin turned her way.

"And such a pretty lady… clinging all over me… and while I've already had a few drinks. What could I have _possibly _been thinking?"

In one quick motion, the blonde-haired man wrapped his arms around her and leaned her over, almost into the floor. She would have shrieked if she hadn't known that it would have embarrassed her more than him. He moved in close to her and made fish-lips at her.

"Hey, pretty lady! Give me a big ol' kiss!"

With that, he proceeded to pucker his lips, close his eyes, and make mocking kissing noises at her. Sakura merely sighed, definitely being used to such small antics of this caliber. She held onto his shirt with one hand in order to steady herself, and she placed the other over his face and started pressing back. The man laughed in good humor as he rose up and brought Sakura back up with him. She smiled and shook her head at him as she scooted back over to her spot on the couch. The odd man laughed as he helped her straighten the back of her dress where she couldn't reach.

"Ehhhh! Can't blame a guy for trying!" he said with another laugh.

Sakura chuckled as well and shook her head once more before looking back at the blonde-haired man and straightening his crooked collar.

"Hey," she said, to get his attention which had went back up to the performers on stage who had just started.

He looked over at her with a questioning look on his face. "Hm?"

Sakura smiled gently at him. "Thanks for coming. I'm really glad you could make it, Naruto."

Naruto turned around with a smirk on his face, all of the sudden feeling like he was something cool. "Hey, it was the first performance of your new song. I wouldn't have missed it for the world."

That caused her to smile again before turning back to watch the band with him.

_That's Naruto. Uzumaki Naruto, age 22. He's by far the best friend I have. It's been that way since we were children. We grew up together as best friends normally would: watching television, playing video games, and occasionally talking about our dreams among other things. He would often sit up with me at night, listening to me sing or play. Nothing else, just… listen as if he found it to be the most serene thing in the world. No one has influenced me to follow my dream more than Naruto has, and if it wasn't for him constantly telling me to, I probably wouldn't have followed that dream. So, I really owe a lot to him._

_His childish antics can sometimes get annoying, but that's a big part of his charm… his character. Really, he's probably the sweetest, kindest, most caring, and optimistic guy in the world. He always knows when you're feeling down, and he **always **knows what to say or do to make you feel better. _

_I live with him in his rundown apartment. Actually… it's more like he lives with me since I pay the larger portion of the rent. He himself has pursued his dream in order to establish himself as a private investigator, and he's done it. Unfortunately, his jobs have been very slim lately for some reason, and he's been struggling to make it by. He's constantly having to go out and scrape his contacts to find an occasional job, so he only gets to sleep about six hours a night. But tonight, he still made it to my performance because he knew… without me saying anything… that I really wanted him to be there._

_And that really says something. _

_However, the same wrench which was thrown into my plans also found its way into his. On this night, something would happen that would change his life as well._

After the band had played their round, the crowd was surprisingly mellow. Naruto leaned over toward Sakura.

"Is it just me, or did you and your totally awesome performance just set that band up for the fall?"

Sakura smiled. "I don't know… I thought they were pretty good."

Naruto smirked. "Is that that new thing called 'humility' that you're trying?"

A side-faring glance silenced him that time.

It wasn't long until the table's waitress made her way over. Cropped blue hair bounced slightly when she walked, and her light gray eyes immediately darted away when she saw Naruto. Sakura had to stifle a laugh, seeing her friend's obvious discomfort and shyness around him. It was something she had picked up on since she first started working here.

"Hi, Sakura. You sounded great tonight," she spoke softly, making sure to only keep her eyes locked on her friend, a practiced strategy for when she was in the presence of her secret crush. In all actuality, Sakura was probably the only one who knew about it. "Can I get you something to drink?" she said with her usual smile.

_That's Hyuuga Hinata, age 20. She's the daughter of the man who owns the Jyuuken; she's one of the hostesses here. Hinata is an incredibly nice girl once you get to know her. She's been one of my best friends here, second only to Naruto. It just took a little while for me to get her to open up a bit and stop being so shy and timid. Hanging around me, she's gotten a lot better about talking to and around people lately, but there's still one person she can never overcome that hurdle around. Naruto._

_You see, Hinata is a very young, nice, pretty, intelligent girl who is one of the more caring people I've ever known. She could easily have any man who came into the Jyuuken if she wanted, but she's not that sort of person. She seems to have a keen eye that can see past any sort of front and outward appearance of a person. She and I together have passed off probably as many advances here as we've taken steps. She has a profound wisdom far beyond her years, and seems to always see people for who they are on the inside. So perhaps that's why she likes Naruto._

_Naruto, just like any other man who visits the Jyuuken, always compliments both of us on our looks, and just as crudely as any other man does. However, like Hinata pointed out (and I noticed as well), Naruto only says what he does out of what he thinks is true and because he intends for it to be a compliment to lift our spirits… with no ulterior motives behind such a compliment. _

_It's these reasons that she can't bring herself to talk to Naruto and tell him how she feels. She's never had these sorts of feelings toward anyone, and she doesn't quite know how to handle it. I've been trying to play matchmaker between the two, because I personally don't believe there could be a better couple out there. _

_Unbeknownst to her or anyone else, tonight's drastic events would end up changing her life in many better ways._

"No, I'm fine. And thank you," Sakura told her with a grateful nod. "Why don't you-"

"Have a seat!" Naruto insisted, taking the words out of her mouth and motioning toward the seat beside him.

"Well… I…" she started, turning her head quickly away from Naruto in order to hide the blush spreading across her face.

"Go ahead, have a seat," Sakura insisted as well, a mischievous smile gracing her features. This may be a good opportunity for her to play matchmaker, she mused.

"But, I…"

"Hmmm?" Naruto inquired, letting out what the two ladies had dubbed as his 'displeased' noise.

Sakura and Hinata's eyes met in reaction as if to point it out to each other. Both laughed lightly, leaving Naruto to ponder on what sort of inside joke he had been left out on.

"A…alright," she finally conceded in what might have sounded like a semi-confident voice, taking a seat on the couch beside Naruto.

The next band to the stage performed their set with what was at best, a mediocre performance. Nevertheless, the group of three applauded politely for the group as they made their way off stage. It would be a few minutes before the next band was set up to play, and a quiet murmur and hum from the people rose around them, just as it did before every intermission.

After a few moments of their group sitting in silence, Naruto looked over at Hinata from his splayed position against the couch. "So, what's that cousin of yours been up to lately? I haven't seen him around in a while."

Hinata stopped and thought for a moment about Neji. It was true… he hadn't really been around much in the past few months. She thought it was weird that she had just now noticed since Naruto had brought it up. She had never gotten along with him very well, so he never crossed her mind very much. Perhaps… she should start thinking about him a little bit more often and check in on him. They were cousins, after all.

"I haven't seen him around lately, N… Naruto. Not since my father told him that he was unwelcome here," she said, trailing off with a solemn tone to her voice.

Obviously Naruto picked up on the tone and decided to interrupt it with a laugh. "Well, from what I hear, it was an awesome fight! But yeah, I think I would have been pissed off to if my nephew came into my place and started a fight with someone!" he said with another laugh.

Hinata smiled at that. It wasn't that he had changed her mood with his words, it's just that he had actually _attempted_ to improve her mood. Just the simple fact that he cared enough to try made her happy. As such, she turned a smile to him as well.

"Y… Yes. You're right."

Naruto reached a hand out and patted her joyfully on the knee. It was just a friendly touch, but the fact that Naruto had touched her caused her to blush and look away.

"And how have you been?" he asked.

His inquiry caused her to blush even more. She certainly wasn't used to getting this much attention from him in a single night. But seeing as how he _was _showing her the attention, she decided it would be best to try to form a coherent response.

"I've been doing well. Thank you for asking!" she said, proud she had said something to him without stuttering that time.

This accomplishment caused Sakura to smile. When Naruto leaned forward to scratch an itch on his leg, Sakura gave her friend a commanding expression and motioned her head toward Naruto, mouthing out the words "ask him", seeing that now would be the best time to ask him if her friend _really_ wanted to make any headway with Naruto.

Hinata immediately blushed profusely and looked away, forward at the table in front of her. Sakura sighed, figuring that her friend was truly a lost cause if she was going to be so shy around such an extroverted person like Naruto.

However, many things were going through Hinata's mind. Her breathing had shallowed due to her nervousness, she felt cold, and she could have sworn she felt something clinching at her stomach. But she knew that right now, she seemed to have more confidence around Naruto than she ever had, and that tonight would be the best time to ask him, because she might not be as confident any other night than she was tonight. She took a sheepish glance at Naruto, quickly blushing again and turning back around when he looked at her and smiled his teeth-baring smile. After a few more moments, she had collected herself once more.

_Alright. I can do this! He's Naruto after all. The worst he could do is reject me. He'd never say anything mean or anything to embarrass you! You can do it, Hinata!_

After a few moments, Hinata turned around, her cheeks slightly pink. "N… Naruto?" she said to get his attention.

Naruto turned his attention to her with a questioning look on his face, and she could see Sakura flash a smile and a thumbs-up at her from behind Naruto's back. "Hm?" he grunted his inquiry.

With all of his attention on her now, Hinata felt the ice in her stomach grow even colder. She blushed even more and started habitually poking her index fingers together… a clear sign of her anxiety, but also a clear sign that she was gathering up her courage. Finally, after several 'ums' and 'uhs', she began to form her question, with Sakura encouraging her gleefully from behind Naruto's back.

"Well, um… I… I don't have anything to do this upcoming Saturday. S… So, I was wondering if y… you would l… like to-"

The ringing of Naruto's cellphone cut her off abruptly. She felt somewhat annoyed since it felt like it had taken her forever to say as much as she had, and at the same time, she felt relieved that she wouldn't have to say it. The corner of Naruto's mouth curled upward in mild annoyance as he looked at his phone and then silenced it with a single button. He looked back to Hinata and smiled once more.

"Sorry about that… now, you were wondering if I would like to… what?" he said as his phone buzzed on the table.

Hinata smiled a relieved smile, a slight bit of the redness in her face going away. "It's alright, Naruto. Go ahead and answer it." At least this would give her a bit more time to work up her courage and think carefully about her words. True, she was only asking him out on a silly little date, but such an event would mean the world to her.

Naruto nodded and answered his phone as he stood up and walked away to talk in private. After he was gone, Sakura looked back to her shy friend with a smile.

"Great, Hinata! You're really going to ask him out, aren't you?"

Hinata returned Sakura's beaming smile with a slightly less radiant one of her own. "Yes. I think I'm really going to this time."

Hinata's rare bit of confidence caused Sakura to smile even brighter. She took up her friend's hand in her own and squeezed it happily. "That's great, Hinata. I just _know_ that you and Naruto are practically made for each other."

Hinata smiled back shyly. "You really think so?" she asked hopefully.

"Definitely."

Both girls divided and move back to their sides of the couch when they saw Naruto coming back. However, his smile had dampened a bit as he returned. Sakura looked a little bit concerned when Naruto showed no notion of sitting back down. He politely nodded his head before addressing them.

"Well, ladies… I'm sorry I can't stay. I'm just been called up for a job, though. Sakura, you were absolutely beautiful tonight and your song was marvelous," he said before turning to Hinata. "And I'm sorry I have to cut and go, but hopefully we can talk some more next week sometime," he said, offering up an apologetic smile.

Hinata rose and moved to the side to let him out. "Alright," she assured him.

Sakura rose from her seat and gave Naruto a hug, a bit tighter than usual. "Thank you so much for coming, Naruto. I know you were busy tonight, but you came anyway," she said, finishing and giving him a slight peck on the cheek.

"Hey, I'm glad I came! And be careful coming home tonight… it's supposed to rain pretty hard," he said, walking slightly past and turning to throw a hand up at Hinata. "Bye, Hinata. I hope y-"

Sakura almost gasped at what had so suddenly interrupted Naruto. And as was obvious from the surprised look on his face and a slight reddening of his cheeks, he definitely hadn't been expecting it either.

In a rare moment of courage, Hinata had wrapped her arms around Naruto in a light hug. Naruto, almost uncertain what to do for a moment, wrapped his arms around her as well and gave her a light, friendly hug.

"T… take care of yourself, Naruto. And don't work too hard," she said, pulling away from him and uncharacteristically pulling a wrinkle out of his shirt.

Naruto, now over the initial surprise, saw it as a friendly gesture on the shy girl's part, but Sakura noticed that something was a bit different about him. He looked happier… if that was even possible.

"Ehhh. Don't worry about me. You just take care of yourself and take your own advice, alright?" he said, patting her on the shoulder as he turned around to leave. He turned his head over his shoulder as he headed out the door. "And tell your dad I said hey!" And with that, he departed, leaving Sakura and Hinata waving at him.

Sakura turned to her friend with her eyes wide and her mouth hanging slightly open, not being able to acknowledge what her shy friend had just done. "Did you just…"

Hinata turned to her with a smile before walking off to get back to work.

Sakura could have sworn that she had almost mistaken the smile for a confident smirk.

The cool night breeze was definitely refreshing after such a hot day on the district beat. And while they had complained about how hot the day was, at least it brought something for them to look forward to with the coming of the night. Now, everything was still, quiet, and the light of the streetlamps cast down over the empty streets. Not much ever happened at this time of the night on this district beat… a fact that one expert detective and his rookie partner were just figuring out.

A man with black hair pulled back in a ponytail flopped back on the hood of the old, red sedan with a sigh. "Heh. How troublesome," he said in reference to not having anything to do.

_That's Nara Shikamaru, age 25. He's lazy, perpetually bored, and generally lacks drive for the most part. However, he's one of the smartest men this world has ever seen… such is probably why he's the head of the 3rd branch investigative team. Shikamaru is a very good person and an incredibly good cop who wants to clean the streets up for his family and make it safe for them. He works hard, and is a happily married man to his wife Ino, and an even better father to his 7 year old daughter, Liza. Just like nearly everyone else, he has no idea exactly how much tonight's events are going to change his life and the life of his wife and child._

He looked up into the night sky and mentally named off the constellations. After a few moments of having his lazy eyes scan the sky, he began to chew on his toothpick before spitting it up into the air. Gravity dragged the toothpick back down to bounce off of its owners head and onto the ground. Shikamaru said nothing for a moment and let out a tired sigh.

"Normally… I wouldn't complain. But there is _nothing _at all to do tonight. Forensics is busy with that last bit of evidence brought in. The L3 crime scene is cut off to everyone. And the report from ballistics on the Quon case still hasn't come in." He stared back up into the sky for a few more moments before slowly turning his head to the right to stare at the dark, spiky-haired boy next to him who was reading some sort of tech manual with the utmost interest. "And you know? You're not really helping matters any. What are you reading in that book that's of such interest, huh?"

The man lying on the hood of the car next to him, just a few years younger looking, lowered the book to give him a crossed glance and a cocky grin. His dark eyes reflected hints of the moonlight as he spoke.

"I'm _trying _to figure out how to fix the air-conditioning in this piece of junk," he said, tapping the hood with the toe of his boot.

_Uchiha Sasuke, age 22. Rookie genius of the investigative division and Shikamaru's new partner upon request. Arrogant, obnoxious, self-centered, hot-tempered, and simply put, intolerable. He has set several records in the police bureau, being a beat cop for only 2 months before being promoted to detective and placed along Shikamaru. However, their relationship goes a lot deep than just merely being partners. Sasuke and Shikamaru are best friends, and Sasuke is almost like another member of the family… technically the only friends he really has. Most people detest Sasuke, but for some reason, the Nara family really seems to like him. He seems to not really like doing detective and police work, but still chose the job over being one of the greatest and best paid lawyers around. No one knows why he took up this job he seems so disinterested in, other than the fact that Shikamaru asked him too. And where Shikamaru is the good cop of the group, Sasuke fills in the bad cop persona. This man would be another who's life would be changed by tonight's events._

Sasuke looked back at the book and closed it for the time being. "Seriously. I don't see why you don't just pay a mechanic to fix it."

Shikamaru smiled a little bit as he continued to look up into the sky. "Because that takes money? 643 of them to be exact. And that's money I'm going to be needing. Hey! I've got a little boy due in about a month, you know?" he said with a laugh. It sounded like he was joking, but he was dead serious.

Sasuke quirked a smile himself at the idea. "Well, don't worry about it. I'll learn how to fix it within the next couple of days."

In response, Shikamaru sighed and looked at his partner and best friend. "That makes me really jealous, you know? It's almost like you can watch something and then be able to turn around and do that exact same thing. That's a talent, man."

"Eh. I guess so," Sasuke said, almost regretfully, adjusting the collar on his black button-up shirt. "My brother can do the same thing… only much better."

Shikamaru thought about that for a moment and then decided it would be best to change subjects, knowing that it was never a good thing when Sasuke started thinking or talking about his brother.

"So, when are you gonna get yourself a good woman, huh? Someone like my Ino who will love you, be good to you, and possibly even give you a few children if you're good enough to her?" he inquired, rolling his head over to look at his friend with a smile.

Sasuke sighed and folded his hands behind his head and against the windshield of the car. "Hm. Beats me. I'm not really the type of guy a girl would want to tie a knot with."

To that, Shikamaru let out a quick, hard breath that was unmistakably a laugh. Sasuke rolled his head over to look at the Nara only to see him smirking. "I guess something about that must be funny, right?"

Shikamaru shook his head in astonishment. "I'm not sure you've noticed or not, but I've noticed that about any girl that sees you would love nothing more than to jump your bone if given little more than half the chance."

Sasuke's glare silenced Shikamaru's laugh that was about to surface. "I don't want that. I want to have a girl for the… feeling of it. Not just the fuck."

The pony-tailed detective thought about this for a moment before remembering one of the girls that he could call his partner's hypocrisy on. "Yeah? Well, what about that Temari babe that goes home with you two, three or more times a week, huh?" he said with a smile, certain he had him there.

"Yeah. She's for the fuck. I may talk about standards, but I'm still a guy."

"Well, what makes her different than any of the other girls you could have any day? I mean… there has to be a reason she keeps coming back to you, right?"

Sasuke looked over at Shikamaru and then quickly looked away, a clear sign that he was somewhat embarrassed about something.

"Hmmm?" Shikamaru inquired with a knowing smirk.

A hand reached up habitually and Sasuke scratched his head, almost as if to call attention away from his face and his words.

"Well… I _pay _her. So there's a pretty big difference there."

Shikamaru quirked an eyebrow in surprise. "Oh," he said, having honestly never thought about that possibility. After a short moment of contemplation, he let out a good bit of laughter, easily catching Sasuke's agitated attention. "You know? As bad as it sounds, when you really think about it… you've actually got some pretty good morals there, bud."

"Perhaps," was all he said in response.

"Well… what about that girl at the Jyuuken? She seems to have caught your eye. The really pretty one who plays the piano and sings and has pink hair?"

"Yeah. What about her?"

"Like I said, she seems to have caught your eye. You go there the watch her every night you don't have to work. That's abnormal for you to go watch a girl at a club. I mean, what's so special about her exactly?"

Sasuke turned a suspicious eye to his partner. "Why are you so interested?"

His answer came immediately as if he was excepting the question and had the answer rehearsed. "Because I'm your best friend, almost like you're my little brother or something. And I've actually never seen you _interested _in a girl before. So I'm just curious about what you see in this one," he said, not really expecting to get an answer since Sasuke had never been the type to talk about things like this.

He was highly surprised when he got an answer.

"Let's see…" he started as if having to think about her qualities, though unknown to anyone else, he actually had them memorized. "She plays the piano well, has the voice of an angel, seems to have a natural charisma about her, and she's rather pleasant to look at," he said, leaving his partner to only gawk at him in amazement of what all he was saying about the girl. For it wasn't often that the youngest of the Uchiha bestowed comments to or about anyone. However, Sasuke didn't seem to be finished with his praise yet. "Oh, she's also one of the few women I've come across who doesn't seem to want to bed me just by looking at me. And that, to me at least, says a lot about her integrity and self-respect."

That comment really caught Shika's attention, because he couldn't remember a time when he had heard his friend talk of someone's integrity. "Well, why don't you ask her out. Or tell her how you feel or something?" he suggested.

Sasuke chuckled at a previous idea, having completely ignored his partner's new question. "And let's not forget that I'm just sucker for pink."

That comment got a good laugh out of the both of them and also told Shika that he was done talking about the girl. A few minutes of silence passed as the two lay splayed out across the hood of Shikamaru's car before the older of the two spoke again.

"Boredom… how troublesome," he said, pausing only for a moment as an idea came to mind. His head turned to his partner, revealing a mischievous grin. "Hey… you wanna do something to beat this boredom?"

Sasuke thought in silence for a moment, trying to figure out the implications of the older man's words. He looked at him through the corner of his eye, and Shikamaru could tell that a mischievous smile of his own was threatening to break at the corner of his mouth. "When is Orochimaru going to be released again?"

"Two days ago," Shika quickly answered, not missing a beat. "And I'm sure that if we just did a quick computer scan of the pedophile's hard drive and memory cache… I'm sure we'd find enough to have him locked away for a few days."

A few moments of silence passed as Sasuke looked back up into the sky, seemingly uninterested in the idea as his features went back to normal. But a few moments of silence was all he was able to hold out for before a smile completely broke out on his face before he sat up on the hood of the car and looked at his senior partner with a smirk. He couldn't help it… no matter how many times they did it in a month, the team's favorite downtime hobby never grew old.

"Want to go arrest Oro again? If so, we better hurry before the rain starts up."

Shika returned the young man's smirk with one of his own. "You bet I do!"

"Let's do it!" Sasuke called out, almost sounding a little bit too excited.

Almost in perfect union, the two slid off of the hood of the car onto the ground and were inside the car at almost the same time. The engine started up, the headlights came on, and the old junky car sped off, slinging gravels behind it as the duo took off down the road.

No more than half an hour ago, the Jyuuken had been bustling full of people on this Saturday night. But now, the place was almost eerily quiet, mahogany furnished chairs turned upside down on identically styled tables, and the dark red carpet had not a speck on it save for a spare napkin her and there.

Sakura, not wanting to have to do more bending then was necessary, reached a leg under the table to get the napkin just slightly out of her reach, she grabbed hold of it between her toes and brought it up to her, having discarded the uncomfortable high-heels as soon as the crowd had left.

"Sakura, you really don't have to help us clean up. My dad only pays you to perform, remember?" Hinata said, almost pleading, not wanting to force her friend into working her part of the job as well.

"It's no problem, Hinata. I don't care at all to help out a friend occasionally. Besides…" she paused to turn her a knowing glance and smirk. "I want to know more about that hug."

To that statement, Hinata blushed profusely and turned to make sure no one else had heard her. Thankfully, they were the only two there closing for the night. "Well, I'm pretty sure you k-"

Hinata was interrupted from her explanation by a knocking at the door. She and Sakura gave each other a puzzled look, both knowing that the Jyuuken's hours were posted clearly outside and on the door. "I'm sorry. We're closed for the night," she called out.

No sooner had she turned back around and shrugged at Sakura than a loud crash sounded from behind them and the entrance door broke off its hinges. Three rather large looking men came inside with neutral expressions on their faces, as if this was a normal, everyday thing. Behind them, stepping into the club with such an air about him that one would have thought that he was walking onto his own private yacht. His long black hair flowed behind him just like his trenchcoat did, and his reddish colored eyes sent a shiver down both of the women's spines.

_Uchiha Itachi, age 29. Absolutely nothing good to be said about this one. Evil, sick, twisted, demented, sadistic… and those are his more charming qualities. CEO of the Sharingan Corporation. The Sharingan Corp. manufactures aluminum foil, but this is only a front. The company is actually one of the largest crime syndicates in the world. Everyone knows that the company and its owner are responsible for several deaths, but they're just too good at picking the best lawyers and cleaning up their messes. The **lesser **crimes they've been charged with include cases of forgery, arson, and drug trafficking and distribution. As the name implies, Itachi is Sasuke's older brother, but despite his younger brother's more displeasing qualities… he is NOTHING like his older brother. Itachi is known to go around with members of his syndicate to some of the lesser business and establishments, demanding "protection money" as he likes to call it. And it was on this night when he targeted the Jyuuken that he would kick off the events that would change so many peoples' lives._

"I… Itachi…" Hinata said, almost choking.

"Ah. Hinata… good evening. Is your father around?"

"N… No. He left earlier this evening," she said, sounding incredibly nervous.

"I see. That's very…" he said, turning around and accidentally catching a glimpse of Sakura standing there barefoot in her double-split black dress dropped at the shoulders. Sakura unintentionally felt herself swallow nervously. "… unfortunate," Itachi concluded in a tone that made it know that he had other things in mind.

"And who might this fine, young lady be?" Itachi said, taking her hand and planting a kiss atop it. Sakura withdrew her hand as if it were going to melt.

"Haruno Sakura. I'm a pianist and singer here at the Jyuuken. I'm just helping my friend close up for the night," she said, motioning toward Hinata.

Itachi quirked an eyebrow and his goons shared a look amongst themselves. "Oh? You mean that there is someone else her making money in my establishment?" he said, keeping his gaze on other places than Sakura's eyes, making her feel as if she was being undressed with the man's creepy eyes.

Hinata quickly stepped forward with a hand outstretched toward Itachi. "Please Mr. Uchiha, she's just-"

Hinata shrieked loudly when one of Itachi's hands flew out and backhanded her across the face, sending her crashing into one of the tables. One of the two henchmen grabbed her tightly around the shoulders and lifted her to her feet, making sure to keep a hold around her, one hand suspiciously up needless high on her chest with a hand cupped. Tears welled in Hinata's eyes as a bruise began to swell on the side of her cheek and she looked down almost fearfully at the hand on her chest.

With that, Sakura stepped forward, eyes ablaze with anger. "Hey! Who d-" she was interrupted in the exactly same way.

Except this time, Itachi snapped his fingers at his other henchman and pointed at one of the tables. With a quick rake of his arm, the brute had cleared everything off of the table for his boss. Then, he proceeded to grab Sakura around the shoulders as well, except this time, she was slammed onto the table. She squinted her eyes tightly together upon impact before they flew open, completely terrified once she realized what was going on.

She began kicking her bare feet at Itachi as he approached between her legs, but he easily navigated between and around them, his subordinate having pinned both of her arms against the table. However, she didn't give up. She yelled and screamed and continued to kick, her foot only brushing against the back of Itachi's shoulder in vain.

Itachi sighed, shook his head, and made his hand into a fist. Obviously this girl didn't know who he was, and she was giving him a headache with all of her screaming. He tightened his hand into a fist, brought it high into the air, and jammed it down on her stomach as hard as he could, putting all of his shoulder and body weight into the punch as well.

Sakura's eyes widened as she felt like she could have folded in half, swearing that she could almost feel his knuckles grind through her stomach and into her spinal cord. The hit hurt even worse considering that she was lying and braced on a solid wooden table. The man holding her down even turned his head and flinched when he heard the heavy _thud_ come from the impact, knowing that it had to hurt. Sakura winced in pain, tears forcing themselves out through her squinted eyelids. She pulled her shaking knees up slightly, trying to ease the pain and her head shot up off the table. She let out a shaky hiss of pain and gritted her teeth together, refusing to give the bastard the satisfaction of hearing her scream in pain. Her head hit back on the table, feeling exhausted from the blow. She was surprised that it hadn't knocked the breath out of her, but she realized that he had intentionally aimed closer to her ribs, going for more pain rather than silence. She let in and out a few pained breaths as Itachi loomed over the top of her.

"Now, stop that," he said in reference to her screaming and trying to kick him. Sakura decided that it would be best to comply with his wishes on that front. She saw Hinata out of the corner of her eye, struggling in vain against the much larger man in order to get to her side and help her. But Itachi's voice called her attention back to him.

"Understand this. You make money here. This is _my _establishment… under _my _protection. That means that while you work here, you belong to _me_. Understand?" he said, licking his lips sadistically as his hands reached out for her chest.

His hands rubbed over the cloth covering her breasts, causing Sakura to shiver at his touch. He felt around until he could guess where the nipples were and rubbed circles around them. Sakura felt sick, knowing that this despicable man's hands were on her. She felt almost relieved when she felt his hands move away from her. However, that relief lasted only a moment before a sharp pain shot through her chest and to her shoulders. Itachi had pinched her nipples cruelly through the rough fabric of her dress and only tightened his vice, not satisfied with her amount of pain, obviously. Sakura raised her head slightly, squinted her eyes together, and hissed sharply in pain.

"Do you understand me?" he repeated his previous question. However, Sakura decided to keep as much dignity as possible and not agree to his outrageous request. Itachi narrowed his eyes, obviously unhappy with this. He tightened his hold with both hands, pulled harshly, and twisted them sharply. This caused her to scream then whimper in pain despite her best attempts not to.

"I said… do you understand me?" he asked again, this time with agitation in his tone. To make sure he got a response this time, he pulled out on her breasts even harder.

Sakura whimpered in pain and nodded her head anxiously in affirmation… anything to get the sick bastard to let her go. Finally, he released his grip and Sakura fell back on the table, panting for breath, having not realized that she had been holding it in the first place.

"Good. Then let's sign the contract then," Sakura's eyes widened in surprise and horror when she felt a cold draft and felt the front of her double-slit dress get slung up around her waist.

She moved around in an attempt to struggle, but the larger man holding her wrists overpowered her and kept her where she was. After a few moments, she felt Itachi's cold fingers slide down the front of her panties, and the touch to her womanhood made her shiver and gasp. She clinched her teeth together and turned her head away, knowing that there was nothing she could do about this. She squinted her eyes together and almost shrieked when she felt him dry-push two fingers harshly into her opening. She grunted slightly in pain when she felt his fingers twist around inside as if feeling around for something. After a few moments, he seemed to have found what he was looking for and began pressing against a single spot inside her. She gasped out loud and nearly moaned.

She hated this more than anything she had ever hated before, and she would have killed the man where he stood if she could. This was the last thing in the world she would have wanted. She felt sick to her stomach because the way he worked her insides made her feel as if he definitely knew what he was doing. She felt even more sick with the implication that this must have been something he was well versed in. After a few moments of pressing around, he pressed in a little bit deeper, causing her to whimper when his fingertips were met with resistance, her facing scrunching and contorting into an expression of both pain and disgust, feeling that her attacker would most likely be pleased with his discovery.

She heard Itachi laugh, and suddenly he pulled out. "Ah. So you've still got it," he said, motioning for his subordinate to let her go. "Even I refuse to take something so precious from you. So tell me… am I not mercifu- HUK!"

Itachi didn't even have time to gloat before Sakura's foot came up quickly when she sat up and went straight for his groin. Itachi nearly doubled over and Sakura slid to the edge of the table, grabbing hold of the collars of his shirt. Itachi looked up just in time to see Sakura arch her head back.

A sickening _crack_ as well as a spurt of blood came forth and Itachi's head jerked back and stumbled to the floor as a result of Sakura's surprisingly massive headbutt. She was getting ready to follow up with her foot meeting his face while he was down, but she was restrained by the henchman. Itachi was soon to his feet, holding his now broken nose. He pointed to the table again.

"Bend that bitch over the table and pull her knees up. I may be merciful enough to not steal her gem from her, but I have no problems with taking what I want from elsewhere," he said, almost as if the sick pervert enjoyed the alternative.

Sakura's eyes widened in terror once more and she shook her head pleadingly, knowing _exactly _what the man was talking about when the large henchman approached her. "N… No," she pleaded as he took hold of her wrists. "Please don't!" she said, tears forming in her heavy green eyes once more.

The larger man, having the advantage of muscle on his side, had very little trouble getting her into position for his boss. Before she knew it, she was sitting on the table with her legs stretched out straight in front of her, and the larger man had pushed her back forward in a very uncomfortable position that made it rather hard to breath where her chest almost touched her knees, and her back-side hung over the edge of the table about a foot or so and balanced, allowing Itachi the perfect angle that he wanted for his next assault on her. Itachi approached from behind and pulled her dress up in back. She felt him fiddling with her panties in back, and immediately turned him a hateful glare, refusing to look away again while he did whatever he wished.

Itachi was surprised when he looked up to see her intense green eyes staring into his. He… couldn't believe it. This was the first woman who was ever able to stare him in the eyes. Itachi nearly shivered and looked away. He paused and even stopped breathing when he realized what had happened. _She just stared me down_. And indeed, she was the first _person_ to ever stare him down. He shook his head, unsure exactly how to deal with this. Before he knew it, all rise he was getting from these activities with the "fresh blood" was gone. He turned around to her once more and pulled her dress back down.

"Let her go. We're leaving," he said, turning and heading toward the door already. "I definitely don't feel like being a pain in the ass tonight," and whether he meant that as some sick joke considering the circumstances was left to be decided. If it was him showing a sense of humor, it certainly would have been the first time.

Sakura slid off the edge of the table, her beautiful pink hair messed up, her fine-pressed dress scrunched in several places, a bruise forming on the side of her face, and her usual happy and peaceful eyes forced into a flint of disgust and anger with tears making their way out. She stood there with her angry glare fixed on Itachi as he and his goons made their way out, her hands balled into pale fists and trembling at her sides. At this point, the man holding onto Hinata also let go of her, and tears had formed in her eyes just watching what was taking place and being unable to do anything about it. The last of the men left out of the broken door and pulled it closed as best as he could.

Hinata immediately ran over to Sakura and took her into a tight hug. "Oh my God! Are you alright Sakura? I can't believe-"

Having figured that the men were far enough away now to be unable to hear her, the tears began to flow even more from Sakura's eyes as her lower lip began to tremble. She choked back a few sobs, and a low whimper soon turned into a rather traumatized sounding scream as she fell to her knees on the floor. Hinata did the same, knowing that her friend definitely needed her here with her during this time. Granted, it could have been much worse, but it was definitely nothing any woman should ever have to go through. Sakura hugged Hinata back tightly and buried her forehead into her friend's shoulder and let her tears and cries flow like a river's rapid.

Hinata closed her eyes and rested he head against her friend's and began stroking her back lightly. She closed her eyes to help regulate her own flow of tears, and she kept her ears to her surroundings just in case they decided to come back. She also listened as the gentle hiss of the heavy rain began to pour outside.

The promised rain had arrived.

The drive home was relatively quiet.

The rising and falling hum or the engine and the heavy beating against the metal and windshield of the car as well as the occasion screech of the windshield wipers forcing the water out of the way were the only sounds made for the longest.

Hinata had called Naruto as soon as Sakura had calmed down a bit and told her to come get her, explaining a few details of what had happened. … Naruto cleared the normal 20 minute drive in a little less than 10 minutes. Now, the three of them rode along in silence. But as was expected, Naruto was the first to break the silence. He turned one of his grin's to Sakura who was curled up in the passenger seat next to him.

"So, from what I hear… you headbutted AND kicked THE Uchiha Itachi in the groin?!" he said with a little bit of a laugh.

Both of the women in the car immediately realized that he was just trying to alleviate the mood. Get their minds off what had happened. But one glance to his white knuckles gripping tightly around the steering wheel was plenty enough to show his anger with what had happened. Hinata chuckled at Naruto's question, hoping to get at least a smile out of her friend. However, Sakura only nodded her head in the slightest bit.

Hinata leaned up slightly between the seats to talk to Naruto. "It's alright if you just drop me off at my apartment… that's perfectly fine."

However, Naruto wanted to hear no part of that suggestion and repeated his previous request, except this time, he gave her an explanation. "I would really appreciate it if you came home with Sakura and I for a few days. It would make me feel better knowing that she's not there by herself while I'm gone," he explained.

To that, Hinata nodded in understanding. "That's fine. I'd be more than happy to," she said, patting her pink-haired friend gently on the shoulder before leaning back again. However, the unexpected second part of Naruto's explanation stopped her for a moment.

"Also… it would give me more peace of mind knowing that you weren't alone in that apartment of yours for a couple of days. I'd seriously hate for him to come back for either of you," he said, casting a glance into the rearview mirror as if to make sure they weren't being shadowed. It was raining too hard to be able to tell anyway, but not seeing any headlights behind him was enough for him.

His stated concern would have normally caused Hinata to blush, but it didn't this time. She was starting to figure out what sort of incredible person he was, and as such, it didn't take her by surprise when he put forth his seemingly random acts of kindness. "Thank you," she said quietly before retreating back to the back seat.

After a few more moments, Naruto spoke again, this time to Sakura. His voice was still warm and tender, but it also held a bit of seriousness to it. "Come on, Sakura. I know you probably don't want to, but you need to talk to me a bit about what happened."

Sakura shook her head in response. "I… I really don't want to, Naruto. It's not really something I want to remember right now," she said in all honesty, despite the fact that each detail and feeling of every event was replaying in her head over and over again.

Naruto nodded his head and collected his words for a moment before speaking again. "I know you don't _want _to. But as I'm sure all of those psychology books have taught you, you need to talk about it or else bad things might happen. I mean, it would kill me if you woke up tomorrow morning and didn't know who we were," he stated both seriously and sympathetically, alternating his gaze between her and the road ahead.

Sakura shook her head once more and pulled her knees up close to her chest. She didn't really want to talk about it, but Naruto was right. She _needed _to talk about it. Knowing as much as she did about psychology, she knew that she _had _to talk about this. And Naruto and Hinata were probably the two people in the world she was most comfortable talking to.

She rested her chin on her knees and stared at the dashboard with a hollow expression before speaking. "He hurt me, both physically and mentally. I've never been so angry and embarrassed in my life. I know it could have been much worse, but while it was going on, I didn't know what to expect. I didn't know if he was going to torture me, rape me, beat me, or even kill me. And I suppose that's what was the worst part… that uncertainty," she started, putting on her med-student voice and analysis, but Naruto realized that her self analysis was getting more personal as she progressed. "It all happened so fast, and I didn't know what he wanted from me. I'd never met him before. He… Oh God. He could have killed me, Naruto!" she said, looking at him. Tears had formed in her eyes, and she looked much more scared than the anger or embarrassment she had described. "I… I didn't know what to do! I w…was s…so… scared!" she managed to choke out between sobs, sounding as if her heart was about to completely split. The tears ran rampant once again, but she and Naruto both knew enough to know that the tears were a very good thing as opposed to bottling those feelings up.

However, that didn't make it any less difficult for Naruto to bear. It hurt him deeply to see his friend cry like that and at the same time know that there was absolutely nothing he could do to make it better. Being there for her was the only thing he could do.

He pulled the car over to the side of the road, unbuckled, and reached over for Sakura. He took her small, trembling body into his arms and hugged her tightly, giving her comfort and thus causing the tears to pour out even more.

"It's alright," he assured her. "I'm here now… he won't get you. You're safe," he mumbled into her hair and planting a light kiss on her pink-hair. His eyes shone with a viciousness that had never been seen before as he looked out at the road ahead of him as he gently stroked her back comfortingly. "He'll never to this to anyone again. You're the last girl he'll ever treat this way… I'll make sure of it," he mumbled the last part inaudibly before closing his eyes, mentally securing his promise.

For some reason, the apartment was a bit colder than it usually was that night.

The large and spacious, yet run-down apartment was perfectly still. Not a single light was on, but the silver illumination pouring from the crescent moon in the sky completely filled the room with a grayish hue, plenty enough to see by. The moonlight coming in through the windows washed across the floor in different shades just as and as a result of the walls of water running down the large windows.

Naruto looked out the window at the hazy yellow flicker of a streetlamp through the gray water washing down before him. His mind raced through the night's events and traced back through the occurrences of the night before. His hand reached up to touch the window as if to feel the rain through the panel of glass. He looked at his thin reflection in the glass and wondered to himself exactly whose eyes those were looking back at him.

He turned around from the window and nameless reflection and slowly made his way to the bedroom, where he had give up his large bed to the two ladies in exchange for the couch. The night's events bother him greatly, and he hated it for both of the girls. However, he knew of Uchiha Itachi and knew some of the things he had done before that the police couldn't even tag him for. As such, he and everyone else knew that it would do no good to go to the police since there was nothing they could do to stop him and his million dollar-lawyers.

And while it bothered him, he was grateful. Grateful that a much worse fate hadn't befallen the two girls tonight. The thought of losing either of them was too much for him.

Perhaps that was what brought him to their bedside in the dead of the night.

He moved quietly into the room and watched over them for several minutes in much the same way a faithful watchdog would. The two were seemingly highlighted by the silver glow of the moonlight coming in through the uncovered window. He first took note of Sakura, pink locks of hair falling down over her eyes and crusted remains of dried tears at the corners. I didn't take long for her to fall into an exhausted sleep once they got home, just a few minutes after changing into her sleep ware. Naruto didn't even want to think about what Sakura went through and how she must have felt. Sakura was a very tough girl, the toughest he knew. Yet here she was, her sleep interrupted by the thought of what happened, causing her to whimper quietly in her sleep. He reached down toward her and gently pushed the pink locks away from her eyes. After a moment, he looked over at Hinata.

Not having taken the time to stop by her place, she didn't have any sort of sleep ware. She decided to compromise a little bit, and they all shared a few chuckles about how silly she looked walking around in one of Naruto's oversized t-shirts. Being rather exhausted herself, it didn't take her long to fall asleep, just shortly after Sakura did. He knew how bad he felt that he wasn't there and was therefore unable to do anything to help Sakura. But Hinata _was _there but was still unable to do anything about it. He tried to put himself into those helpless shoes for a moment, but was unable to imagine how terrible it would have felt to be in such a circumstance. He looked at the girl's face, noticing that like Sakura, her blue hair had fallen down around her eyes. All of her shyness and conservative nature was gone now that he saw her sleeping… the one time when _no one _had to put up a front for anyone.

She was beautiful when she was asleep. He had even acknowledged that she was beautiful when she was awake, but just like when most people slept, it was somehow different. He reached down almost instinctively to brush the hair away from her eyes.

He stopped mere inches away from her face and pulled away. He figured that he was already overstepping his bounds in a major way by watching her sleep, and when he stopped to acknowledge it… that was kind of creepy. He instead settled on pulling the quilt up further around them in order to better help fight away the apartment's slight chill. And having done that, he turned around and left out of the room, quietly closing the door behind him. Walking back to his couch, he wasn't sure exactly what had driven him to go into the room. He knew they weren't going anywhere; he knew they were safe. But it was an illogical feeling he had that told him that if he didn't keep an eye on them, he might wake up in the morning and they not be there. And he was uncertain of exactly how illogical the feeling really was. This time last night, he never would have thought that he would have come as close as he had to losing Sakura tonight.

He sat back on the couch, all traces of his usual smile completely gone. He stared at the television and contemplated turning it on to catch the weather, but he soon dismissed that idea. His eyes wandered around the apartment, all of the walls completely bare except for a few paintings Sakura had made herself to help "spice" the place up, as she had called it. But despite his trying his best not to, his eyes wandered down toward his coffee table.

His eyes finally rested on the pistol he had laid out, locked and loaded just a few minutes ago. His intense stare remained fixated on the weapon for several minutes before deciding on what exactly he needed to do with the prepared gun.

The vibrating sound of the cellphone clattering against the wooden dresser sounded from the solid darkness of the luxurious apartment.

The sleeping woman in the bed stirred a bit, but didn't wake up. The man sighed, obviously annoyed to be awakened from his slumber. His hand reached up to the dresser and patted around for the phone before finally grasping it in his hand. In one swift, well-practiced motion, he flipped the phone open and brought it to his ear as he sat up in bed.

He looked ahead at his dresser, the only lighting coming from the digital alarm clock, burning bright-red numbers of 3:22 a.m. into his eyes. The man sighed again, feeling the woman stir slightly in her sleep before clearing his throat and bringing the phone back to his ear.

"Detective Uchiha," he stated, affirming to the caller of the stationary number that it was indeed him who he was speaking to.

Sasuke switched on the light on the dresser and tilted the shade away from the woman in the bed. He pulled his knees to the side and rubbed his hand through his black hair, only half listening to what was being said.

"Yeah, I know. Breaking and entering, rape, assault, robbery… it's all terrible, it really is, don't get me wrong. But it happens all the time. What's different about it this time?"

After a few more moments of explanation, there were a few words that peaked Sasuke's interest and actually made him take on a shocked expression, nearly dropping his phone upon hearing the words.

"I'll be right there, don't move the body," he commanded, clapping the phone closed and pocketing it in another quick, well-practiced motion.

This time, Temari stirred awake and turned to look at him through sleepy eyes, squinting through the light at him. She pushed her long, blonde hair away from her face and watched as he quickly pulled on his pants, boots, left her night's money on the bed, gathered his gun, keys, etc., tossed his shirt over his shoulder, and began heading for the door in quite a hurry. It was a rare sight to see in him, especially considering that he looked somewhat anxious.

"What is it? What's going on?" she asked, somewhat concerned.

When Sasuke turned around to answer her, he already had the door open and was halfway out into the hall. His hurried glance told her that he didn't have time to give her a full explanation. The explanation was brief, and he left no time for questions before going the rest of the way out and slamming the door behind him.

_"It's my brother. …Itachi's dead."_


End file.
